'Taliban Dan' Political Ad 'Backfires'

Sometimes stupendously over-the-top political ads can make for savvy, or at least chuckle-producing, campaign moves (see: "Demon Sheep" and "Wizard of Oz"). But Rep. Alan Grayson's new "Taliban Dan" spot appears to have
crossed the proverbial line into distasteful
politicking. In the 30-second video, an ominous voice
explains that Grayson's opponent, Republican Daniel Webster, wants to
impose his "radical fundamentalism" on the general public. The video cuts an out-of-context quote from the candidate ("She [his wife] should submit to me")
to mean the opposite of the unedited version of the clip.
Needless to say, the advertisement was quickly panned by pundits on both
sides of the aisle, who believe the ad probably "backfired":

It 'Twisted' Webster's Wordsfinds Mark
Schlueb at The Orlando Sentinel. "The Grayson campaign edited the
original video, chopping it up and taking Webster's words out of
context. Webster actually was advising husbands to bypass those
particular Bible passages, according a longer video clip released Monday
by Webster's campaign."

Fact Checking the Ad Factcheck.org published an analysis
of the advertisement and reported that, "Webster’s positions on
abortion and marriage, and his religious views, are certainly fair game.
But Grayson crosses the line when he uses manipulated video to cast
Webster’s views in a false light, just as he did when he concocted a
false accusation that Webster had been a Vietnam draft dodger."

'Utterly Disgraceful'concludes
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. The campaign staff is acting disgracefully,
"chief among them Grayson’s campaign manager Susannah Rudolph, who spent
yesterday attempting to defend the obviously and egregiously dishonest
ad, even after the Orlando Sentinel exposed it as a fraud. This
incident shows perfectly why Grayson, Rudolph, et al have no business anywhere near power."

Webster Said the 'Exact Opposite' writes
Jim Treacher at The Daily Caller. "Putting the word 'don’t' at the
beginning of a sentence tends to change the meaning of the rest of the
sentence, unless you’re an oafish charlatan trying to win an election.
Cue Alan Grayson. If he was running against Moses, he’d cut out all the
'Thou shalt not' stuff in the Ten Commandments. 'Moses wants you to
steal, kill, and lie about your neighbor! I’m Alan Grayson and I approve
this message while holding two small children.'"